Comments made by DonnaGilmore

The public is paying the price already. In addition to the safety problems, SDG&E and Edison ratepayers have among the highest electricity rates in the nation. So much for the myth "nuclear is too cheap to meter". http://sanonofresafety.files.wordpres...

Name calling is a frequent response when a person doesn't have facts on their side. Don't be fooled by the anonymous comments. Learn the facts for yourself.

San Onofre chose to use "high burnup" nuclear fuel which is over twice as hot and radioactive, and unstable and unpredictable in storage, compared to the lower burnup fuel they originally used. The NRC won't approve high burnup dry storage over 20 years because they don't have the data to prove it's safe. And they won't approve any transportation containers for high burnup fuel. The protective Zirconium metal cladding around the high burnup fuel is cracking and subject to shattering, which could release the radiation into the environment. See details at http://sanonofresafety.org/

High burnup fuel made more money for Edison because it can burn longer in the reactor. However, it made us less safe. The majority of U.S. nuclear reactors use high burnup fuel, including Diablo Canyon in San Luis Obispo County. The high burnup fuel must cool for up to 20 years in the spent fuel pools (instead of 5 years) before it can even be moved out of the cooling pools to dry storage. However, until there is a better dry storage container, it's not safe to move it to dry storage containers. See government and scientific facts at http://sanonofresafety.org/nuclear-wa...

In addition, the Zirconium cladding is reacting with high burnup fuel to create hydrides, which could result in a hydrogen explosion in the spent fuel pools or in dry storage containers.

The dry storage containers are stainless steel. NRC's own reports shows there are serious corrosion problems with the metals used at San Onofre and other plants located near the ocean, such as Diablo Canyon. If air reaches inside the stainless steel container, it can result in a hydrogen explosion.

We need to put pressure on our elected officials to force the NRC to stop approving high burnup fuel and to find a storage solution for the tons of high burnup fuel waste that exists around the country. That won't happen without pressure from us. This fuel has been used for decades and even though the NRC and nuclear industry know about the problem, they don't have any solutions and don't appear to be working on a solution. Their current plan is to put high burnup fuel in a stainless steel container that isn't even approved for high burnup fuel and wait and see what happens. Because there is no current technology that can monitor inside the containers, their plan is to try to invent one.

Governor Brown has the power to shut down San Onofre. He appointed 4 of the 5 CPUC Commissioners. He also can also influences the state Water Resources Control Board. They can force Edison to comply with the ban on once-through cooling. This would be prohibitively expensive for Edison. Time to put this problem at the Governor's doorstep and also tell our state elected representatives to represent us instead of Edison. We have a surplus of power in California and the state's electric grid operator has plans to get us through another hot summer without San Onofre.

The steam generators are the worst in the nation, showing decades of wear after less than two years of wear and leaking radiation after less than one year. Onofre has the worst safety complaint record and highest rate of retaliation against employees who report safety problems. Get the facts at sanonofresafety.org. See NRC reports and reports from independent experts. Learn how you can help.

Edison told us these steam generators were the best technology the industry had to offer and would last at least 40 years. Instead they leaked radiation in one year and have set a new record for worst steam generators in the nation, according to NRC data. Now Edison wants to restart this defective equipment without fixing it first and the NRC has not told them "no".

This, along with San Onofre's worst nuclear safety record in the nation and highest rate of retaliation against employees who report safety problems says it all.

Concerned citizens oppose Edison's re-start of their defective nuclear reactors. We demand a full, transparent Adjudicatory Hearing and License Amendment process, including evidentiary hearings with sworn testimony and cross-examination which include experts independent of the NRC, Edison and the nuclear power industry. This public meeting tonight cannot be considered a substitute for this process. Given how we arrived at this point and the serious loss of faith by the public in the NRC and Edison as a result, we can see no reason why all five NRC Commissioners would not want this as well. That process should be started immediately.